“This evening, one of the world’s greatest contemporary visionary artists, NYC’s own renowned Alex Grey, and the San Francisco cultural critic Erik Davis will engage in a spirited dialogue about the role of visionary art and architecture. Grey will discuss the history of sacred art and the aspirations embedded in his own work, ranging from his extraordinary paintings and sculptures to his design of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Davis will draw from his brand new book, The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape, which weaves deeply informed text and stunning images into a compelling narrative of religion, architecture and consciousness in California. Don’t miss this meeting of two dazzling minds.”

“California has served as ground zero for an emerging spirituality based on ecology, the body and the technology of human transformation. The state’s ebullient spiritual landscape has spawned the likes of neopaganism, televangelism, UFO cults, austere Zen Buddhism, Esalen, mavericks such as Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley, popular visionaries such as Starhawk and Carlos Castaneda, and the nightmarish Charles Manson and Jim Jones. In this slideshow and talk, based on his fascinating new book, The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape, Erik Davis will take us on a wild ride, exploring the history and legacy of ‘California consciousness.'”

“Erik Davis (www.techgnosis.com), a San Francisco-based cultural critic, is the author of The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape and Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information. He has contributed to dozens of books and magazines and has given lectures and workshops at universities, conferences and festivals all over the world.”